Genuine Happiness
by GabeClarkie
Summary: Edward hadn't been looking forward to the Christmas party. After getting knocked over while waiting to use the bathroom, his tune has changed and he can't wait to help with the after party clean up. Canon pairings. Mild language.


**This little goodie just popped into my head. Consider it a Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate) gift.**

**This is un-beta'd so I apologize for any errors.**

**Any recognizable characters or places do not belong to me. The only thing that's mine is the plot.**

It was the Saturday before Christmas which meant one thing for Edward Cullen: Alice and Jasper's annual Christmas party. Each year the party seemed to grow, this year even more so. Some of the traditions of the party remained, but every year Alice made sure there was something new and different. Unfortunately for Edward, the couple had finally gotten married in September, and little Alice thought it was a good idea that a date be a requirement. Sipping his scotch and leaning against the cool wall in the corner of his friends living room he rolled his eyes at the thought. Yes, she had so graciously concluded that the dates did not have to be romantic, and that friends were okay, but the idea in itself was so asinine Edward had threatened not to attend for the first time since the tradition began. He remembered the conversation with Jasper well, the pleading look in his friend's eyes.

"Edward, look, I know you think it's stupid, but please just suck it up," Jasper had whined at him, "Alice is absolutely enamored with the idea, and you know how she gets. It's all just in good fun. Loosen up a little. Besides, it's been long enough since Tanya. You don't need to be so bitter."

Edward groaned in response, "I don't even know who I could take. Everyone I know who I would even consider is already coming and has someone to go with."

"That's what you get for being so antisocial," Jasper said with a roll of his eyes, "You definitely have to come now. You need to meet some new people. Who knows, maybe you'll even meet a girl."

"Jasper I," Edward began with a raised voice.

"So I'll see you then. Great. I knew you wouldn't put me through Alice's wrath," his friend cut him off, quickly walking away, waving over his shoulder.

Edward had cursed at his friend's retreating back, and stalked off in a huff. Inevitably, the following day he asked his co-worker, Bree, if she would be interested in coming with him. She agreed and now somehow she was off having fun with his friends while he pouted alone in the corner.

He wasn't even sure what his problem was. He wasn't normally this pissy. It had been quite some time since Tanya, and if he were being honest, he wasn't even bothered by it anymore. In fact by the time Alice and Jasper's big day had rolled around, Edward was in great spirits. Several photographs from the wedding littered the walls, and the smile on his face had been completely genuine. He was looking forward to spending the holiday with his family. Work was going well, in fact Edward suspected that he may be getting promoted in the spring. Life was good, so why was he being such a miserable bastard? He sighed, and his scotch found its way to his lips once again.

The doorbell chimed faintly around the buzzing noise of the party-goer's excitement. Edward saw Alice scamper quickly from across the house, cheeks flush with excitement or wine, to open the door.

"Seth!" he heard her gush disappearing momentarily from his view, most likely wrapped in a hug.

When she appeared again, Edward chuckled to himself, amused at the sight of her. He never thought in all the years of teasing about her height that he would see Alice dressed up as an elf. Her black spiky hair was covered by a green stripped hat complete with faux elf ears on each side. She wore a matching strapless dress that even had little green pointy shoes with bells on them.

"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile all night," Emmett said, suddenly at his side, but Edward wasn't paying attention.

The most beautiful woman he had even seen had just walked into the door. Her mahogany hair flowed with soft waves down to just past her shoulder blades. Her eyes shone brightly and seemed to dazzle in the light. Her lips, darkened to a beautiful shade of red with lipstick, vibrantly stood out against her pale skin as she smiled at Alice's greeting.

"You must be Bella," Edward strained his ears to hear the conversation from across the room, "It's so nice to meet you. Come on in, let me take your coat."

Bella shrugged off her black woolen pea coat, revealing the midnight blue cocktail dress underneath, and Edward practically felt his jaw drop.

"Uhh E?" Emmett questioned, distracting him from the angel, "You alright man? You look kind of dazed."

"I'm uh," he said still trying to watch Bella, "I'm fine."

Emmett finally looked to see what his friend had been staring at.

"You know her?" he questioned, looking between Edward and the new arrivals.

"Um no," Edward answered, finally turning his attention to Emmett, not wanting his true reaction to be recognized, "I was just thinking of how ridiculous Alice looks. I never thought she would have taken our teasing to heart like that."

"Uh huh," Emmett responded, crossing his arms across his chest, "Anyway, I just came over here to check on you. You've seemed pretty miserable since you got here. Like somebody ran over your puppy or something."

Edward just shrugged, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bella out of the corner of his eye.

"C'mon man, seriously, what's up? Even Rose is concerned about you, and she doesn't get concerned about anyone. But don't tell her I told you, she'd kill me. Is this about Tanya?"

"No," Edward sighed, "Maybe? I really have no idea what's wrong with me. I don't think it's Tanya. That hasn't really bother me for a while now. I guess maybe I'm just lonely, or some shit."

Emmett nodded, "Well it has been a long time since you've been single at Christmas. Maybe it's time you get back on the horse, you know?"

"Get back on the horse, really Emmett?" he questioned teasingly.

"C'mon man, you know what I mean. What about that girl you brought? Bree? What's up with that?"

Edward waved his hand dismissively, "She's just one of the newbies I work with. She's a nice girl and seemed like a much better option than trying to bring Newton or something."

"Right. Well don't mope in the corner all night. And maybe lay off the scotch a bit," Emmett said, patting his back before walking off.

Edward quickly scanned in front of him to see if he could see where Bella went. When he didn't see her, he sighed once more and went to take yet another sip of scotch. With the cup halfway to his lips, he stopped and stared at it for a moment, Emmett's words echoing in his head. He instead put the glass down and decided it would be alright if he mingled. He tried not to think about Bella too much, she was probably this Seth guy's girlfriend anyway.

Deciding to take Emmett's advice and loosening up a bit, Edward found himself having a relatively good time at the party. He saw Bella around, laughing with other groups of people, just as he was, but he didn't approach her yet. It wasn't until Edward found himself with a full bladder that he bumped into Bella. After awkwardly walking in on Bree making out with some guy he vaguely remembered being introduced to as Riley in the first floor bathroom, he made his way to the second floor, this time knocking on the door before trying to open it.

"Just a second," a soft female voice called from inside.

Edward began pacing back and forth in front of the door to prevent himself from doing the pee dance as he waited. He heard the click of the lock as the door opened, and promptly turned to squeeze past whoever it was and ended up knocked onto the floor, the weight of another person on top of him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Bella said, covering her mouth with her hand, "I'm such a klutz, are you okay?"

"You're on my bladder," he croaked out from underneath her, cursing himself for his lack of finesse.

"Oh!" she said, rolling herself off of him, as she stood up.

"I'm sorry, I just really have to pee and I already…well the downstairs bathroom was occupied," Edward said as he quickly got up himself.

He flashed her a brief smile before heading into the bathroom. He heard her mumbling to herself through the shut door, thinking for a brief moment how awkward it would be for her to stand there and wait while he relieved himself.

"I'm really sorry," she said again, calling to him through the door.

"Oh, uh, it's okay," Edward said, zipping himself back up, "Accidents happen right?"

She chuckled softly, "More than you know. I seem to be accident prone."

Edward quickly washed his hands, wiping them dry on his pant legs. He eagerly opened the door to see her leaning against the doorframe.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she questioned, biting her bottom lip.

"I'm much better now that I've gotten to the bathroom," he said with a smile, "Are you?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," she said a hint of red crossing her cheeks, her hair falling to the sides of her face as she tilted her head down, "Just embarrassed."

"If anyone should be embarrassed it's me for being so rude. I really did have to pee," he said sheepishly, eliciting a laugh from Bella, as she once again lifted her head up.

"Well let's agree that it was an awkward moment. I'm Bella by the way," she said offering her hand.

He took her hand into his and shook it softly, "Edward."

"Nice to meet you Edward," she said, her hand lingering in his as the handshake ended.

"So Bella," he began, "How do you know Alice and Jasper?"

"Oh, I don't really. I mean I just met them tonight. I came as Seth's date," she said looking to see if recognition crossed his eyes, "Leah's brother."

"Oh right, okay. I've met Seth a few times in passing. He seems like a nice guy," he offered.

"He is sweet. He's always been much less harsh than Leah," Bella quickly added, "Not that Leah is mean, by any means. She can just be a little rough around the edges sometimes."

Edward smiled, "I know what you mean. So you've known them for a long time then?"

"Yeah, we grew up with each other. Part time anyway," she shrugged.

"That's nice, how long have you been dating?" Edward asked, hoping she would deny his assumption.

"Dating?" she laughed, "No, were not dating. We're just friends. Although I'm pretty sure he used to have a crush on me for a while. My dad's friends with his dad and Jacob's dad, so the four of us would hang out a lot when I would stay with him for the summer. Seth's like a little brother to me."

"Oh I see. I apologize for the assumption," Edward said with the nod of his head, "Well I hope you're having fun. Alice can go a little overboard, but she does like people to have a good time."

"I am, it's a very nice party. Everyone's been very welcoming. Have you known Alice and Jasper long?"

"Since freshman year of college," Edward said, "I met them on the same day, before they ever met each other. Jasper and I were roommates and Alice lived one floor up. The first night we had moved in, there was a big party and I found Alice drunk, trying to break into our neighbor's room thinking it was her own. I helped her to her room, and then next day found her milling around our hallway. She had come to find me to say thank you. She and Jasper didn't meet until the first day of class. He hit me when he found out I already knew her and hadn't introduced them. Like I could have known they were destined to be together."

Bella giggled, "That's sort of sweet. So you've been close ever since?"

"Oh yeah, Jasper's my best friend and Alice is like a sister. I was best man at their wedding."

"That's really sweet. They just got married this fall right? Did your girlfriend go with you to that too?" Bella asked shyly.

"Nope, no girlfriend. I came with one of my co-workers, Bree," he explained with a grin, "Actually she was one of the people occupying the downstairs bathroom."

They both shared a laugh and as time passed, they found themselves sitting on the floor with their backs pressed against the hallway wall. Two hours had passed while the two of them talked oblivious to the time as they enjoyed each other's company.

"Bella?" Seth's calling interrupting their conversation.

"Over here," Bella called back, a giggle in her voice.

She smiled at Seth as he came around the corner. She and Edward stood up slowly, leaning on each other for support.

"Sorry," she apologized to Seth, "I bumped into Edward and we've been talking since. I didn't mean to be so rude. Let's go back down stairs and I'll be more social."

"Uh, Bells, it's time to go. I've been trying to find you for like fifteen minutes."

"Oh really? I'm sorry. What time is it?" She asked, with a bit of a frown.

"Its just past one," Seth answered.

"One a.m.?" Bella said in disbelief.

She took hold of Edward's arm and twisted it softly to look at his watch.

"Holy shit, we really lost track of the time," she said.

"Yeah, I can't believe it," Edward added, "I didn't mean to keep her from you the whole night."

"Edward?" Alice called up the stairs, "Edward are you up there?"

"Yeah, Alice, I'm here," he called back as she appeared in the hallway.

"Edward, Riley said not to worry and he would take Bree home. Where have you been all night? Ben and Angela said you went to the bathroom and never came back," Alice questioned.

"I err, yeah," he answered, gesturing around him, "I did. Bella and I bumped into each other and we've been talking ever since. I guess we lost track of time."

"Hmmm," she said, "Well you can stay if you want. We could use some help cleaning up. I can make up the spare bed if you'd like. Otherwise everyone's either gone already or going home now."

"Oh jeez," he said, running his hand through his hair, "I better go say goodbye to whoever's left huh?"

The four of them made their way downstairs. A drunken Rosalie sloppily kissed Edward on the cheek. Emmett apologized behind her, and after stating that he was taking her home, shot Edward a look, gesturing between him and Bella who was staring at them from the kitchen. Edward looked over his shoulder at her, and she quickly busied herself with picking up empty bottles.

"Well Alice, I apologize. I know Rose and I said we would help clean up, but I've got to get her drunk butt home," Emmett's booming voice said, knocking Edward out of his daze.

"That's alright," Alice said with a wave of her hand, "You guys, Ro especially, already did so much to help with the set up and planning you're off the hook. Drive safe."

Seth appeared in the doorway, holding Bella's coat and her purse, "Bella? I've got your stuff here, are you ready?"

"Uh, no actually. I'm going to stay a while and help clean up."

"Oh I um. Okay," Seth said putting her belongings on a nearby chair and beginning to unbutton his own coat, "I guess we could.."

"Oh no, don't worry about it. You can go home. Edward said he'd give me a ride," Bella said with a twinkle in her eye, winking at Edward when he glanced over at her.

This for sure had been an interesting party.

**So I had originally thought of this as a one-shot. But we'll see, I may turn it into a series of one-shots.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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